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The Ancestral Homeland of the Carriers of the Proto-Indo-European Language: Mathematical Models for the Study of Linguistic Information

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Abstract—This paper presents the results of theoretical analysis and computer modeling, which suggest that two main linguistic populations characterized today as the division of Indo-European languages into the so-called “satem-centum” language ranges could emerge in the model Indo-European language community approximately 3500–4000 years ago. The results of computer modeling show that among the two main hypotheses of the formation of the Proto-Indo-Europeans (the Anatolian and Kurgan hypotheses), the latter corresponds to the time estimates we obtained to a greater extent. Some of the problems of the search for the ancestral homeland of the peoples that were carriers of the Proto-Indo-European language are analyzed.

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Notes

  1. The Swadesh List is a method that was proposed by American linguist Morris Swadesh for assessing the degree of kinship (proximity) between different languages based on the sign such as the similarity of the most stable basic vocabulary. As a rule, this is a standardized list of basic lexemes of a language, which is ordered according to decrease in their “basicity” (historical resistance to disappearance from use). The standard Swadesh List in any language includes only the most simple, obvious, basic, modern meaning of a word. The minimum set of the most important vocabulary is contained in the Swadesh 100-word list. As an example, the first ten items in the Swadesh 100-word list for the Russian language are as follows: я; ты, вы; мы; это; то; кто; что; не; всё, все; много.

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Funding

This article was prepared under the support of the 5–100 Program of the Russian People’s Friendship University (RUDN University).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Russian People’s Friendship University, 117198, Moscow, Russia

    M. A. Egorova & A. A. Egorov

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  1. M. A. Egorova
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  2. A. A. Egorov
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Correspondence to M. A. Egorova or A. A. Egorov.

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Translated by L. Solovyova

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Egorova, M.A., Egorov, A.A. The Ancestral Homeland of the Carriers of the Proto-Indo-European Language: Mathematical Models for the Study of Linguistic Information. Autom. Doc. Math. Linguist. 53, 127–137 (2019). https://doi.org/10.3103/S0005105519030026

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